1. Field of the Inventive Concepts
The inventive concepts disclosed and claimed herein relate generally to orthopedic devices, and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to an ankle brace.
2. Brief Description of Related Art
Ankle injuries are among the most common injuries in sports. When an ankle is injured, the traditional methods for promoting healing include application of pressure to the area to reduce swelling and to prevent movement of the ankle. The current trend in medicine now is to promote exercise as soon as possible after an ankle injury. It is therefore desirable to provide an orthopedic device or orthosis which allows exercise of the injured ankle while additionally resisting mobility in the direction which would irritate the injury.
An ankle orthosis is typically a brace that surrounds the ankle and provides pressure while controlling the ankle movement. The orthosis can be designed to allow forward and backward flexing while preventing lateral movement of the ankle, i.e., inward and outward flexing. This is accomplished using a brace with upper and lower portions hinged at the ankle bone position allowing the brace to pivot backwards and forwards. Unfortunately, location of a hinge or rivet adjacent the ankle bone can cause pressure, rubbing and irritation of the protruding ankle bones.
To alleviate the pressure on and irritation to the ankle bones, one prior art device utilizes a circular hinge with hinge openings sufficiently large to accommodate protrusion of the ankle bone (see U.S. Pat. No. 4,665,904). Unfortunately, this circular hinge device is not separable. Ankle braces having a separable hinge, such as the brace described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,146,350, can be less difficult to manufacture in that separate steps are not required to connect the upper and lower portions of the brace. A separable hinge design also allows a wearer to remove the upper portion of the brace while leaving the lower portion inserted in the shoe for storage. However, prior art ankle braces having detachable hinges are bulky and require the detachable hinge surface to rotate about the ankle bone when worn, causing irritation as described above.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need for a less bulky ankle brace having upper and lower portions that are releasably and rotatably connected about the ankle bone area, while reducing or eliminating contact of the hinge surface with the ankle bone. It is to such a comfortable and user-friendly ankle brace design that the presently disclosed and claimed inventive concept(s) is directed.